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Royal swaddle: Prince George's bird blanket becomes a style star

By Nardine Saad

5:40 PM EDT, August 5, 2013

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Prince George is setting trends and selling them out, just like mum Catherine and late grandmother Princess Diana.

In his 45-second appearance outside the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's hospital on July 23, the newborn king-to-be was swaddled in a bird-printed blanket that has sent swaddlers around the world into a fashion frenzy.

The blanket was made by New York-based aden + anais and comes as part of the brand's 4-piece Jungle Jam pack, which retails for $49.95. The company's website crashed within four hours of the new prince's appearance, according to the Associated Press.

On July 24, the site crashed again and after nine days, aden + anais received 7,000 orders of the blanket, which marks a 600% increase in sales, AP said. The company has also wrapped Beyonce and Jay Z's baby girl, Blue Ivy Carter, but the attention the 2-week-old prince has brought the 65-employee company is of royal proportions.

Prince George's merino wool christening blanket by G.H. Hurt & Co. was almost instantly on back order too, All the Rage reported.

But it isn't that surprising that this 8-pound, 6-ounce bundle could be so en vogue. Prince George's mom has been selling out dresses since the beginnings of her romance with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. It's called "The Kate Effect" and the former Kate Middleton has built a rep for a practical style sensibility by rejecting the "only wear once" notion of royal watchers. She's also been a huge supporter of British brands and affordable garments.

Wills' mom, Diana, was a major style icon in her day, with outfits of hers fetching thousands of dollars at auction.

The name George is also expected to see a boost in popularity with the name predicted to rise from 12th most popular name for a boy in the U.K. to fourth most popular name in 2014, according to genealogy website Ancestry.com.

But for now, rather than asking Prince George, "Who are you wearing?," we'll be framing that pertinent question as, "Who are you spitting up on?"